Written by Don Byrd
Citing Europe’s move in recent years toward banning Muslim head coverings in the name of gender equality, Amnesty International has released a new report arguing that such laws have helped spur a rise in religious tension in the region.
The report, titled “Choice and Prejudice,” pays special attention to national laws or local rules against wearing headscarves or face-covering Islamic veils. France and Belgium ban them outright, as do some towns in Spain and elsewhere.
“Amnesty International is concerned that states have focused so much in recent years on the wearing of full-face veils, as if this practice were the most widespread and compelling form of inequality women in Europe have to face,” the report says.
You can read the report here.
